1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radiological equipment, and more particularly to an x-ray system having a superconducting anode.
2. Description of the Related Art
The most common method to generate x-ray radiation is to bombard materials with energetic electrons. The process is not efficient, especially in diagnostic medical application of 20-120 keV, where radiative energy loss by electrons is about 1%. The rest of the electron's energy is dissipated in collisions with target electrons that is ultimately manifested as thermal energy. This thermal energy hinders critical imaging parameters of x-ray tubes, including total x-ray output, heat removal rate from surface, as well as bulk of the target size of the focal spot must be large enough to avoid damaging the anode surface (0.3 mm is in the low side for mammography). Duration of the X-ray pulse must be long to allow thermal dissipation of the input heat (50 milliseconds time is typical). Elevation of the brightness and/or increasing the e-beam current density will allow the following significant improvements.
Spectral manipulation techniques include selecting different energies and comparing their images to obtain new information or subtracting away certain tissues. Reducing the focal spot size allows for improving the image's resolution. Reducing the imaging time reduces motion blurring, for example, in cardiac (heart) imaging.
Thus, an x-ray system with a superconducting anode solving the aforementioned problems is desired.